Moksha

No individual experiences heaven, at least not in its fulness. Heaven is the dissolving of boundaries, and the end of individuality.

Nonduality.

The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you. - Luke 17:21 Heaven translates as spaciousness. It is not a place, but the pure state of being. Consciousness, unfettered by its dreams, is heaven.

No, I don't believe in God. Belief is a byproduct of the conditioned mind. It is nothing more than a conceptual trap. It is the opposite of Self-realization, which is the direct discovery of God within yourself, beyond belief.

If being free from thought feels colorful, good, and liberating, then the next step is to develop the spiritual discipline to remain present, without being pulled into the undercurrent of your conditioned mind. It is not for spiritual slackers, but for people willing to put in the work. Good news is that it becomes self-perpetuating, as you begin to realize the results. No different from working out at the gym. It takes a lot of discipline in the beginning, but as you start leaning out and building muscle, there is a mind shift. You actually look forward to working out, because you see the benefits. How do you work out spiritually? Commit yourself to the practice of meditation, and do it every day, no matter what. Especially on days when you don't feel like meditating, do it anyway. The quality of the meditation session is far less important than doing it consistently and sincerely. I highly recommend reading, and practicing, the principles in The Mind Illuminated, by John Yates.

What was nice about it? Did you learn anything from it? How did you feel, in that moment when you were free from thinking? Was it liberating? Have you considered that maybe thinking itself is the source of your suffering? Maybe letting go of thinking, like in those "nice" moments, is a bridge to being? If you experienced it, and found it liberating, why not learn to sustain it, instead of giving up?

Thanks for what? Maybe answer my question? I feel like you are entrapped by your mind, and fighting hard to get out, but not realizing that the more you struggle, the more ensnared you become. It's judo, not karate. Instead of fighting against everything, learn to allow what is, and in doing so, defeat it. Awakening is about acceptance, not aggression.

Enlightenment isn't an achievement. It is a realization, and it happens when you are ripe enough to let go of the tree of transience, and fall into yourself. Until then, don't hang your happiness on it. Simply learn to be present. Take joy in this moment, and then learn to connect one moment to the next, until it is a continuous state of presence. Have you ever had a profound moment of pure being, completely free from thought, like when observing a sunset, or standing on the pinnacle of a mountain, or losing yourself in the ocean crashing against the shore? Each awakening moment is like that, but turned inward. Thoughts and emotions come and go, but they are seen from 10,000 feet, and you no longer identify with them. Instead, you simply resonate in the being that you are. In the light of Consciousness, boundaries between yourself and everything else begin to dissolve. It is healing, it is liberating, and it is the realization of unconditional love.

The noise of suffering is unnecessary, and we can rise above it, even with the dream. It becomes a distant whisper, unworthy of attention. Life, even at this altitude, can still be noisy at times. Pain, loss, and death are inevitable, regardless of how serenely we accept them. But it is more of a white noise, staticky and strangely comforting in its equanimity.

@Breakingthewall ? The radio will turn off, when the power goes out. Until then, is the noise all that bad, given the alternative? Following this form, there is endless silence, a blessing and a curse. For now, I choose the noise. It is scratchy like a vinyl record, imperfect but unique, compared to the soundless, depthless void that follows forever.

@Breakingthewall I hear you. Fear is the superglue of the ego. What if, realizing its proclamations are the source of suffering, we allow it to recede into the stratosphere? Barely audible radio chatter. Let it go all day long, from a distance of 10,000 feet. Why engage with it, when it has never brought you peace? The demon is comforting with its familiar phrases, but it is still a demon. Its promises of certainty are false. Let it rise into the sky, away from the attention of yourself, and eventually... ?

@gettoefl These are the questions I asked myself. How can something be free, when it is the product of conditions that created it? Free will is a comforting concept, with apparent utility in the relative world, but is it ultimately real? The answer to the question is not found within the dream, but upon awakening from the dream. Then, looking at the dream character so concerned about its free will, all you can do is laugh.

The conceptual distinction has limited utility, and is unlikely to catalyze Consciousness awakening to itself. Not to say that teachings are unimportant, but ultimately it is about direct realization. You can study the Bhagavad Gita for decades, but the concepts mean nothing until you are ready to let go, and Self-realize the encrypted message in its pages.

Hard to say if it is bravery, or desperation. Probably both. When the suffering is intense enough, unclenching your death grip to the conditioned mind, and falling into the void of yourself, suddenly becomes the most sane option.

Everything is Consciousness, in different states of Self-awareness. It has the capacity to veil some of itself from the rest of itself, and the veil creates the illusion of "higher" or "lower" Consciousness. Ultimately, there is is no higher or lower Consciousness, just Consciousness telling the story of seeing itself as such.

I see materialism as just another belief system, a religion in its own right. Any devout believer, whether theological or materialistic, will reject the non-conceptual realization of reality. Consciousness can only be directly realized, and until it happens, it will be dismissed as nonsensical. Which, of course, it is

A question that occurred to me as an undergrad, and led to a shallow discussion with my behavioral psychology professor, followed by decades of not knowing the answer, until it was directly realized: Does free will exist, and if so, how? What, beyond the derivative physical and social conditioning of my experience, makes me free?

Being raised in a highly conservative religion, and even embracing it despite the damage, I am not amazed by the unconsciousness of others. I have been there myself, sincerely believing that I knew the truth. How can I judge others for being as unconscious as I was? Funny thing is, despite the self-sabotaging beliefs, I still had breakthroughs of pure non-conceptual realization. I'm sure the same is true for many people with religious beliefs. It is a journey, right?

@Breakingthewall I hear you, but is it actually a religion if the direct realization is that reality cannot be conceptually understood? If there are no beliefs, how can it be a religion? Self-realization is non-religion. I'm not disparaging belief systems, per se. They help many people get through life, but at some point they can become self-defeating if they are clung to, rather than let go of. They are useful in the sense that people need to believe, but only until they no longer need to believe.

@Kykeon A noun is a name assigned to something that appears to be cohesive, regardless of reductionism. In relative reality, nouns fray at the micro- and macro-levels. Most linguists would agree that humans fit the definition of a noun, but most linguists aren't philosophers The point of relative reality is that there is no objectivity. Energy, mass, and time vary, depending on the perceiver. Not only are there no objective nouns, there are no objective verbs, adjectives, or anything else. Within the web of Maya, it is all relative and reducible.

Religion can have some benefits, but there is always a catch. You cannot awaken through beliefs, only through direct realization. The more engrained someone is in their beliefs, the less likely that they will be willing to let go of the mind, and realize that it is a cesspool of self-fulfilling suffering. For that reason, I see religion, and all belief structures, including spiral dynamics, as more of a hindrance than a help.

Chasing mystical experiences is the least likely path to realizing them. Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you. Instead of chaining yourself to the result of your actions, learn the art of being in the present moment, regardless of the results. Presence is its own reward.

Nothing can rise higher than its nature. As a human, you are bound to the limits of humanity. Even dreaming lucidly doesn't dissolve these limits. If you want to be an Olympic gymnast, no matter how gifted you are, you have to do the work. Consciousness has no limits, but that is a blessing and a curse. It cannot rise higher or sink lower, because there is no directionality in its ultimate nature. It can only dream about change, and the dream characters are inevitably bound by the limits of the dream.

Forget the doing, for the most part, and learn to be.

Letting go of distractions and desires, what is left? The sages did this, through the Neti neti process of Self-inquiry, like peeling an onion. After letting go of "this" and "that", the reality at the center of it all is Consciousness itself. Inquire into yourself and you will see.